#that just makes you indistinguishable from a bot when you follow someone and your blog may eventually be deleted if its reported enough. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doubletrea · 1 year

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see this? this is called "tag spamming"

on other social media sites, it works to garner more attention to your art, writing, or photography. not here! on [tumblr]™️, this is the bane of everyone's existence. there's no algorithm here, only posts by people you follow. posting like the screenshot above reveals your "noob status" And is annoying for people searching tags only to find ten million posts that are completely indistinguishable from a bot post (this won't get you followers!). The best way to grow is to interact with other people who post things you have a shared interest in!

reblogging things and tagging them with anything you please is fine, because tags on posts you reblog are for others to find posts you've reblogged or created tagged with that thing. they don't show up when someone searches the site! (just remember, the original poster and the person you reblogged from can still see them, so, uh, be thoughtful about what you say! (as a sidenote, comments on posts cannot be deleted. so again, be kind, okay?))

if you post art, I would recommend making your own personal art tag, so people looking for art can find it when they go on your blog!

(also, "for you page" isn't a thing.)

#reblog my post NOW boy

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mac-aro-ni · 11 months

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Housekeeping Notes

Hello to the various new followers of this blog in the last few months!

I have noticed that some of you seem to be brand new tumblr accounts. I appreciate you following this blog so quickly after joining tumblr! It warms my heart that so many aromantic people are able to find this blog so quickly!

However, I have only realized this because of certain "common practices" on this site, and I'm worried that some of you might be getting blocked by other blogs you try to follow! If your blog is completely blank (no icon/profile picture, no title, no descriptions, no posts, and all the default settings like having your likes and follows publicly visible), you unfortunately look indistinguishable from a new spambot that hasn't started their second phase of operation yet. A lot of users on this site block accounts that are blank, out of an abundance of precaution for removing spambots from their blog so they don't get spam links in their replies/reblogs. Spambots start by following a massive number of accounts and existing in silence for a week or more, then suddenly start posting stolen pictures from the internet before moving on to posting content that breaks TOS and is full of links trying to scam anyone who clicks them. A blank blog is not a guarantee that in a few more days, you won't start spamming them.

Luckily, there's an easy fix! Simply pick out an image of any kind to act as your blog icon, change your title to anything a human would write ("I'm new!", "~lurking~", and "not a bot" are all perfectly acceptable options), and change your description (a lot of us do mini bios there, but you can also just have something like "I'm new to tumblr and figuring out what I want on my blog still" )! Another quick fix is to make one (1) single post that clarifies you're still adjusting to tumblr, and leaving it as your only post til you start reblogging stuff.

Don't be afraid to hit reblog! It's kinda like retweeting, or sharing on Facebook, or saving a pin to a board on Pinterest. You don't have to add anything to a reblog, but you have the option to add tags (which can be used to organize your blog into different topics like having different boards on Pinterest or albums on Instagram, or to just talk about the post in a way that requires more effort for someone else to include in their reblog from you) or to add text/images/links to the body of the post (that's how those long chain posts with many different blogs adding on their thoughts happen!).

Reblogging is the lifeblood of the site. Tumblr has added algorithmic options to the dashboard in recent years, but most of us prefer to use tumblr the old-fashioned way and only see posts from people we follow. Reblogging is how you get a post in front of your followers! It's how your followers get to know you! Have fun with it!

Liking is the bonus extra-love button, or for when a post is one you like but for whatever reason you don't want it on your blog(s). Reblogging is a better method of engagement, but liking isn't completely useless like a lot of people try to say. Tumblr has added a thing where, if your likes are public, your followers might occasionally see a post that you liked on their dashboard. Most of us keep our likes private, though, so many people aren't aware this is a thing now, and we like things specifically to engage but not show it off on our blogs, so we don't want our likes showing up on people's dashes. I tend to like a post when I would maybe spam multiple reblogs of it but don't want to reblog it several times in a row and clutter up my own blog, or when it's a discourse post I agree with but don't want to spread the discourse around. Artists will often mention things about reblogs being better than likes and it is for this simple reason: reblogging means you are putting it in front of more eyes, and thus helping the artist find buyers/commissions and build their brand. If you follow an artist and hit 'like' on everything they post, consider reblogging some of them so more people see their art and they can get even more attention for their wonderful talent/skill!

Some other things:

For anyone who hasn't checked this blog's homepage out, you may be unaware that this blog is not a main account. It's a group sideblog, one that I do not own. The owner hasn't logged in to tumblr in years, so there won't be any calls for additional moderators for the foreseeable future (as I am unable to add new members myself because of the permissions set by the owner). I am currently the only active mod for the account, so only my main is currently linked in the bio. You can follow me on that blog if you want to get to know me better! I post way more stuff there, just because it's not focused on a single topic like this blog is. (Because this is a sideblog I cannot DM from this account, either, so if you ever need to DM me for some reason you need to go to my main and DM me there.)

I try to answer asks I get here as quickly as possible, and the anonymous option is on! I do my best to reblog things from all across the spectrum of aromantic experiences, but I only have my own experience to base my judgement on, so if there's a particular flavor of aro content you'd like to see more of (posts for a specific identity, more art, more comics, whatever), just send an ask and let me know!

#mod meg #not aro positivity #admin stuff

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crescentcrossbow · 1 year

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The fact that blocking people you don't like on Twitter is an absolutely necessary part of having a good experience, while blocking people you don't like on Reddit and Tumblr is an act of spite that makes both you and the person you've blocked have a hard time, has plagued my brain for a while. I think now I'm actually capable of putting it into a coherent thought.

Blocking (in the sense of "preventing people from seeing and interacting with your posts," held distinct from restricting and/or filtering DMs) as a form of interaction control really only makes sense on a social media platform that meets the following conditions:

The primary model of interaction is based around individual blog posts, not around forum threads (whether linear like on a traditional forum/chatroom/imageboard or tree-based like on Reddit/Tumblr).

The sorting algorithm that shows you people's posts is more complicated than a simple reverse chronological feed.

Twitter meets these conditions.

Blog post-based, not thread-based: When a post is served to your dashboard on Twitter, you don't see a reply chain. You see a single post. If the post is the start of a thread, it has to indicate that so you know to click through and look for the rest.

Not reverse chronological: You cannot control who you see and in what order, because the Bird will just randomly serve you something that people you follow like or some shit, and you'll keep getting served it even if you unfollow them. Reciprocally, that person you don't want to see cannot avoid being served your posts.

So because the platform is such a complete clusterfuck, blocking as a feature makes sense: it's literally the only way for Twitter users to curate their blog.

However, in the case of (for instance) Reddit, when you go to a community you see all of the posts the same way everyone else does. A Reddit community is a forum, and that is how forums are supposed to work. It's not a blog that other people are interacting with, it's a community that you are a part of.

Tumblr, though it is technically a collection of blogs, is the same way. Unless you are isolated in your little hole, never reblogging from anyone and indistinguishable from a bot, you are a community member. You follow people. You see their comments in threads in the order they were made. If you don't like what you're seeing you can unfollow them, or perhaps filter out a tag if it's only posts with that tag you're not fond of.

When your site uses this interaction model, having a block feature is fundamentally a misunderstanding of what kind of site you are operating. And when understood this way, the fact that blocking someone or being blocked by someone completely fucks up your ability to use the site as intended makes sense. It's like the old phenomenon of a CEO demanding the latest buzzwords be added to a product that physically cannot exist with those buzzwords, and being surprised_pikachu when the results turn out to be dogshit.

On Reddit, if someone you have blocked or someone who has you blocked makes a comment anywhere in a thread, you completely lose the ability to vote on or reply to any comments anywhere else in that thread, including your own. On Tumblr, if someone has you blocked and then one of your mutuals reblogs a post that has them anywhere in the thread, you completely lose the ability to interact with that post, even though it's your own mutual's post. These are fundamental barriers to using the site as intended. They punish you for having people who mildly dislike you, or for mildly disliking people, by making the UX inhospitable.

It's the clash of two completely incompatible interaction models.

A forum should not give users the ability to block other users. A site that gives users the ability to block other users should structure its design around individual top-level blog posts. These two philosophies cannot mix, and when they do, the results end up shitty.

#meta

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blueheavensims · 2 years

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Check-in tag

I was tagged by @gphoenixsims.! Thank you kindly.

• Why did you choose your url?

So, way way back in the late ‘00s, I was still on Sim Trek 2 Boldy Go (RIP), and creating my first Sims 2 Story, Blue Heaven Sims. I wanted to extract a few of the Sims to share, and so I made a new home for them, originally a Blogspot blog called Blue Heaven Sims. It seemed appropriate, and as I created more, unrelated content and Sim Trek 2 was soon shuttered, I needed a home for it all. The name had what the kids these days call “brand recognition”, and since it wasn’t broke, I didn’t fix it. I created a tumblr account for personal stuff I think around 2014, but never used it (this is my primary) and created the secondary account to promote my work and that of other Sims 2 creators.

• How long have you been on tumblr?

Since August of 2018. I came to the party late. Right before the Tumblrpocalapyse, in fact.

• Do you have a queue tag?

No.

• Why did you start your blog in the first place?

More visibility. I try to keep an eye on which types of the content I create are popular, which get more downloads, and so on. Publishing updates on Sims Cave wasn’t really pulling in the new visits to my blogs, so decided to try this new site that all the kids were talking about.

• Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

It’s me chilling with Ophelia, my tortoiseshell goddess.

• Why did you choose your header?

I didn’t.

• What’s your post with the most notes?

I had to research it, because my memory’s a bit cloudy. It’s the Comfort Me Too posebox, with 148 notes. The note thing can be super deceptive, honestly. Typically, my original creations garner around 20-30 notes, whereas derivative content (bodyshape conversions of other creators’ outfits, reposes of janky poseboxes, etc.) tend to do much better. The vast majority of my content is niche, typically made for one specific genre of game (the Midnight at… series, Combate Moderno, Merrie Minstrels, Barbarians at the Gate, etc.) whereas the content that seems to be really popular is 4t2 clothing conversions and Maxis Match hair recolors where one creator’s post is almost indistinguishable from the next.

• How many mutuals do you have?

Probably fewer than I should, honestly. I have a few people who I engage with frequently and I care a great deal for; they know who they are.

• How many followers do you have?

600 and some change. Tumblr nerfed a bunch of bot and inactive followers recently, but I’m slowly approaching 650 again.

• How many people do you follow?

251. I only follow Sims 2 blogs.

• Have you ever made a shitpost?

No.

• How often do you use tumblr each day?

I check it a few times a day. I post content 2-4 times a week, and occasionally make reply posts, comment on friends’ posts or rant.

• Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

A few. I have a reputation (deserved or not) of not putting up with anyone else’s bullshit. I had, not exactly a fight, but a disagreement with MDP a while ago. I don’t remember exactly what it was about. Probably not of very much consequence. There was the time I stood up for Nobe (devotedlyghostlyenemy) when someone called her a bunch of names for converting a teen crop top to for children. Yes, there are still people like that on tumblr.

I have a PM of telling Klira to pound sand after she PM’d me to ask me not to remake her janky poseboxes. I have the screenshot saved to my desktop.

I had a funny exchange with the “underwear anon” a few months back; I’m pretty sure that I got the better end of that one.

I’ve jumped into a couple of pissing matches about Patreon content creators for TS2 having their content redistributed and that Brazilian site that was redistributing free content, I had a few things to say during the discussion about Cindy/PleasantSims’ Discord, and I’ve called out a few people who were bullying other creators.

But Tumblr is the tip of the iceberg. I’ve been active in the community (not just tumblr) for 15 years now, and for better or worse I’ve interacted with a lot of people. For a complete history of me not putting up with other peoples’ bullshit, THIS post is worth reading (sorry; it hasn’t been updated with the latest crap about the Sims Crafters Discord yet: I’m working on it).

• How do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

The only correct answer is “No the fuck I don’t.”

• Do you like tag games?

Yeah. It depends on the tag game, really, but most of the time they’re fun and I’m happy when my friends tag me.

• Do you like ask games?

Yes. I don’t get a whole lot of asks, but I’m happy to respond when I receive them.

• Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I try not to compare my work to the “big names”; obviously they’ve been here longer, create more mainstream content, and have much more ample follower bases. Without access to the follower counts of every single mutual I have, I’d be hard-pressed to provide a response.

• Do you have a crush on a mutual?

I’m a boring old married person. I don’t have crushes.

Tagging: I think most of the folks I follow have already gone. Ummm… @nixedsims, @criminalmiik, @iamg-knee maybe? If it’s not your thing, I’ll happily fuck off.

#replies #smeg

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